2025 Helen Mayo House Perinatal & Infant Mental Health Conference

the 2025 Helen Mayo House Perinatal & Infant Mental Health Conference will be held at the Adelaide Convention Centre on 13–14 November 2025.

With the theme “Fostering Early Relational Health: Seeing, Listening, Being-With,” this year’s conference will bring together a dynamic mix of engaging keynote speakers, interactive breakout sessions, and hands-on learning opportunities to deepen your knowledge and support your practice.

🚨 Early Bird Closing Soon – Just 3 Weeks Left!

Take advantage of Early Bird pricing and register now to save!

 

	Early Bird Rates Upto 22/9/25)	Regular Rates (from 23/9/25)
Full Registration:
General Admission	$615.00	$685.00
Student(full-time)	$275.00	$345.00
Thursday Only Registration:
General Admission	$410.00	$475.00
Student(full-time)	$175.00	$240.00
Friday  Only Registration:
General Admission	$345.00	$410.00
Student(full-time)	$105.00	$175.00

 

Day 1, Keynote Speakers:

• Claudia M. Gold, MD – Paediatrician & Early Relational Health Specialist
• Dr Pamela Douglas – GP Researcher, Developer of Possums Neuroprotective Developmental Care, Author of The Discontented Little Baby Book
• Professor Andrew Whitehouse – Deputy Director (Research), The Kids Research Institute Australia
• Samantha Welke – Program Manager, Inklings in South Australia
• Nicole Highet – Founder & Executive Director, COPE
• A/Prof Jane Kohlhoff – University of NSW / Director of Research, Karitane
• A/Prof Anne Sved Williams – Consultant Psychiatrist, Helen Mayo House

Breakout sessions will include a range of short, focused talks offering practical insights and clinical relevance.

Day 2, Workshop:

LISTENING IN: A Model for Making Every Contact with Babies and Caregivers Count
Led by Claudia M. Gold, MD, this full-day workshop will provide tools to support deeper, more effective engagement with families.

In this workshop, contemporary developmental science research will be integrated with clinical stories to reveal the power of “Listening In”: listening from a not-knowing stance with a suspension of expectations and a willingness to be surprised. 

The meeting of caregiver and newborn represents the prototype of two people, each with their own unique self, getting to know each other. Offering a practical model for a wide variety of professional settings, Listening In applies in a parallel process to parent-infant, clinician-parent, and teacher-student relationships.  

Drawing on my most recent book Getting to Know You: Lessons in Early Relational Health from Infants and Caregivers, we will address core early relational health principles that inform the model of Listening In including the repair theory of human development, parental reflective functioning, the healing power of safety, and the ways that relationships change the brain and body. Participants are invited to bring their own experience for in-depth discussion of the application of these principles to clinical work with infants and caregivers.